Postal workers to collect food for needy

Letter carriers will be picking up food at mail boxes throughout the area Saturday during the annual “Help Stamp Out Hunger” program.

People are asked to leave nonperishable foods at their mailbox to be picked up by letter carriers on their daily rounds and taken to the Havre Food Bank, where the food will be given to people in need.

“We need food,” said Diane Sebastian, the director of the food bank.

This is the time of the year when the food donated at the holiday has been depleted and the need for food remains, she said.

Peanut butter is especially in need, she said. It is nutritious for young people, she said.

Canned vegetables, soups and prepared boxed food also come in handy, she said.

But all kinds of food are welcome.

Letter carrier Travis Abdullah said postal employees look forward to taking part in the program every year. It’s been going on for 24 years.

As the carriers bring the food back from their routes, it will be sorted at the post office and workers will get it ready to ship to the food bank.

Postal workers and representatives from HRDC, which operates the food bank, work together to get the food ready, he said.